Neuropsychology of human spatial cognition

描述（由申请人提供）：本文提出的研究旨在为空间认知的综合临床和实验项目做出重要贡献，并为进一步研究脑-行为关系的重要问题奠定基础。这些广泛的长期目标反映在提案的两份不同研究报告的具体目标中。研究1旨在提供一个精心控制的基于损伤的理论测试，提出空间认知在颞顶叶区域有其神经基础。它检查了一个对照组和三个患者组（单侧右侧海马病变，单侧左侧海马病变和顶叶病变）在空间认知任务中的表现。参与者将使用非沉浸式桌面虚拟环境任务和相关措施进行测试；这些已经被证明为空间学习、记忆和导航提供了有效和可靠的测试。所有患者均可获得结构神经成像和体积数据。研究2的重点是空间认知的年龄相关变化。它考察了个体在空间任务上的表现差异，提出了这样的问题：老年人在空间任务上表现的高度个体内部差异是海马功能受损的行为指标吗？该研究将包括3组（健康的年轻人、健康的老年人和患有与年龄相关的记忆障碍的老年人）。参与者将在研究1中使用的相同设备上进行15次测试。广泛的神经解剖学数据将适用于所有老年人。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The research proposed here is designed to make critical contributions to a comprehensive clinical and experimental program focused on spatial cognition, and to set the stage for further inquiry into important questions about brain-behavior relations. These broad, long-term objectives are reflected in the specific aims of the proposal's two distinct studies. Study 1 aims to provide a carefully controlled lesion-based test of theories proposing that spatial cognition has its neural foundation in temporoparietal regions. It examines the performance of a control group and 3 patient groups (unilateral right hippocampal lesions, unilateral left hippocampal lesions, and parietal lobe lesions) on tasks of spatial cognition. Participants will be tested using a non-immersive desktop virtual environment task and related measures; these have been shown to provide valid and reliable tests of spatial learning, memory, and navigation. Structural neuroimaging and volumetric data will be available for all patients. Study 2 focuses on age-related changes in spatial cognition. It examines individual variability in performance on spatial tasks, asking questions like: Is high intra-individual variability in the performance of older adults on spatial tasks a behavioral indicator of compromised hippocampal functioning? The study will include 3 groups (healthy young adults, healthy older adults, and older adults with age-associated memory impairments). Participants will be tested across 15 occasions on the same apparatus used in Study 1. Extensive neuroanatomical data will be available for all older adults.